'The Grudge' will scare the daylights out of you

By Camille Blake

November 15, 2004 | When someone is killed in an act of rage, there is left behind a curse that will consume anything it encounters. The Grudge will consume anyone who watches it. This movie does not give you a break to breathe between screams. The Grudge is more believable than most scary movies today and that's what gives it edge.

Karen (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is a foreign exchange student in Japan. She is studying social work and finally gets her chance to go to a house alone. Karen arrives at the house to find an elderly lady in a catatonic stupor and an extremely messy house. While cleaning, the sounds of scratching footsteps draw Karen upstairs to investigate. No one else is home besides the old lady and that makes Karen anxious. She comes to a room full of boxes and a taped up closet. The noise has stopped now, but Karen can't help but wonder what is in the closet.

What happens after that starts the story for Karen. She will never be the same and neither will anyone else who enters that house. This movie brings all the classic features of a scary movie together and twists them. I always knew when a scary part was coming up by the music and the unavoidable events (like going into a room with a taped up closet). I tried to close my eyes, but for the most part I was caught off guard. It took my places of comfort, my room and bed, and made me scared of them.

As Karen investigates further into the history of the house, she discovers what exactly happened. She also discovers the curse. Karen can never forget the face. It follows her every where, haunts her every thought and draws her back to the house. Karen cannot escape the fate of the curse.

The feeling of this movie will follow you out of the theatre and into your house. I will confess I have to check my bed twice before I get in it. I hate being alone now. Maybe I can't handle scary movies, but I have never been this scared before. I can't get the image of that face out of my head. Compared to the girl on the The Ring this one takes it all. I was scared when the girl on The Ring crawled out of the TV, but when I saw the creature from The Grudge I couldn't keep my eyes off of it because I was so scared.

Even though Halloween is over, there is time to still have a good scare. Despite the fact that I have to sleep with the lights on, I loved this movie. It is different. Why see it if it's so scary? I say everyone needs a chance to feel alive and nothing proves that more than being scared. I won't say it is the scariest movie of all time, but if you think you can handle scary movies try this one.

NW